PHILLIPS 66 PIPELINE LLC

Incident Narrative

SHIFT SUPERVISOR WAS CALLED TO INVESTIGATE WHAT LOOKED LIKE CRUDE OIL ON THE SIDE OF THE TANK AND WAS DISCOVERED A LEAK WAS COMING FROM TANK 1101 MIXER. OIL WAS ESCAPING OUT OF THE PRESSURE RELIEF VENT OFF OF THE TANK MIXER CASING. THE ESCAPED OIL WAS BLOWN ABOUT BY THE WIND, CAUSING IT TO STAIN THE TANK AND THE GROUND. THE CASING CAVITY FILLED WITH CRUDE OIL FROM THE TANK FROM BUILDING PRESSURE INSIDE THE CASING. SEVERAL COMPONENTS OF THE SEAL FAILED, CAUSING A CATASTROPHIC SEAL FAILURE, RESULTING IN OIL SEEPING INTO THE SEAL CASING. PARAFFIN AND FRAC SAND BUILT UP INSIDE OF THE STATIONARY SEAL, PREVENTING MOVEMENT OF THE DYNAMIC SEAL, RESULTING IN THE FRACTURING OF THE SEAL BODY. TO HELP WITH FUTURE LEAK DETECTION, PARTS WERE ORDERED SO THAT A SENSING PROBE WILL NOTIFY THE CONTROL CENTER IF A PROBLEM OCCURS. THE OLD SEAL WAS SENT TO THE MANUFACTURER (JENSEN) TO DETERMINE THE REASON FOR THE FAILING COMPONENT AND NO CONCRETE ANSWERS WERE OBTAINED. THE SEAL IS NOW BEING SENT TO JOHN CRANE WITH A REQUEST FOR A NEW SEAL DESIGN/MATERIAL. A NEW PM INTERVAL GOING FORWARD WAS CREATED FOR MIXER SEAL REPLACEMENT/CLEANING. ALSO ESTABLISH A PM TO ROTATE THE MIXER ANGLE MANUALLY SUCH THAT TWO MIXERS ARE IN SYNC TO PREVENT SOLIDS FROM BEING TARGETED AT THE PARTNER MIXER SEAL. UPDATE 2/01/2019 JOHN CRANE CAME WITH A NEW SEAL DESIGN/MATERIAL AND IS UNDER TEST AT THE PALERMO FACILITY. THE NEW PRODUCT IS PERFORMING WELL. 09/30/2024 - UPDATED BY PHMSA PER OPERATOR APPROVAL.